[Federal Register Volume 67, Number 249 (Friday, December 27, 2002)]
[Notices]
[Pages 79231-79232]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 02-32767]


=======================================================================
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES TRADE REPRESENTATIVE


Notice of Issuance by the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) 
Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil 
Society of an Open and Ongoing Invitation for Public Comment

AGENCY: Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR).

ACTION: Notice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

SUMMARY: The Office of the United States Trade Representative (USTR) is 
providing notice that the Committee of Government Representatives on 
the Participation of Civil Society (Civil Society Committee), 
established by the 34 countries participating in the negotiations for 
the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA), has issued an Open and 
Ongoing Invitation for public comment on all aspects of the FTAA, 
including: The second draft consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement, 
released to the public on November 1, 2002; the ongoing FTAA 
negotiations; and the FTAA process in general. Submissions in response 
to the Invitation should be sent directly to the FTAA addresses 
indicated below.

DATES: Public comment in response to the Open and Ongoing Invitation is 
welcome by the FTAA Civil Society Committee on a continuing basis. For 
submissions to be reflected in the Committee's Report to the FTAA 
Ministers for their eighth meeting in Miami, Florida in the fourth 
quarter of 2003, submissions must be received by the Chairperson of the 
FTAA Civil Society Committee no later than May 1, 2003.

ADDRESSES: The public is strongly encouraged to submit documents 
electronically. Submissions should be sent directly to the ``Chair of 
the Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of 
Civil Society,'' at only one of the following addresses:
    Submissions by electronic mail: alca.com">soc@ftaa-alca.com.
    Please note that submissions from civil society will be received at 
the addresses below up to February 24, 2003. After this date, the 
official FTAA Web site (http://www.ftaa-alca.org) will list the 
corresponding addresses of the new headquarters of the FTAA 
Administrative Secretariat in Puebla, Mexico.
    Submissions by facsimile: (011) (507) 270-6993.
    Via Postal Mail: c/o Secretaria del Area de Libre Comercio de Las 
Americas (ALCA), Apartado Postal 89-10044, Zona 9, Cuidad de Panama, 
Republica de Panama.
    Via Private Messenger/Couriere Service: c/o Secretaria del Area de 
Libre Comercio de Las Americas (ALCA), Hotel Caesar Park Panama, Via 
Israel y Calle 77, San Francisco, Cuidad de Panama, Republica de 
Panama.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: The official version of the Open and 
Ongoing Invitation for public comment and a cover sheet identifying 
information to be included with submissions to the Civil Society 
Committee are available on the USTR Web site (http://www.ustr.gov) and 
the official FTAA Web site (http://www.ftaa-alca.org). The cover sheet 
is reproduced below. The USTR and FTAA Web sites also contain 
background information regarding the FTAA negotiations, including the 
second draft consolidated texts of the FTAA agreement, the Civil 
Society Committee's Report of November 2002 to the FTAA Trade 
Ministers, and the Quito Ministerial Declaration. Any questions 
concerning the Open and Ongoing Invitation should be addressed to 
Christina Sevilla, Director, USTR's Office of Intergovernmental Affairs 
and Public Liaison, at (202) 395-6120. Questions regarding the FTAA 
negotiations should be addressed to the agency's Office of the Americas 
at (202) 395-5190.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:

1. Background

Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of Civil 
Society

    At the 1998 FTAA Ministerial meeting in San Jose, Costa Rica, the 
hemishpere's trade Ministers jointly recognized and welcomed the 
interests and concerns expressed by a broad spectrum of interested non-
governmental parties in the hemisphere, and encouraged these and other 
parties to provide their views on trade matters related to the FTAA 
negotiations. In order to facilitate this process, the Ministers agreed 
to establish the FTAA Civil Society Committee. Since its first meeting 
in October 1998, the Committee has approved four Open Invitations, the 
latest on December 10, 2002, soliciting views from the hemisphere's 
public. The Open Invitations were announced on the FTAA Web site, and 
countries agreed to use national mechanisms to disseminate the 
invitations further. In the United States, the invitations were 
disseminated through a variety of means, including press releases, 
notices to advisory committees, Federal Register notices, and public 
meetings.
    The Committee has prepared reports for Ministers describing the 
submissions it received from the public. These reports have been 
published on the official FTAA Web site. Since April 2001, the 
Committee has provided, directly to the negotiators in each FTAA 
entity, the submissions received from the public.

Quito Ministerial Mandate

    At the seventh FTAA Ministerial Meeting held in Quito, Ecuador, on

[[Page 79232]]

November 1, 2002, (Quito Ministerial) the Ministers responsible for 
trade in the hemisphere reaffirmed their commitment to the principle of 
transparency in the FTAA process and recognized the need to enhance and 
sustain participation of the different sectors of civil society in this 
process.
    At the close of the Quito Ministerial, the Ministers issued a 
declaration in which they acknowledged the receipt of the contributions 
submitted in response to the Committee's Third Open Invitation to Civil 
Society (issued 1 November 2001), and thanked the organizations and 
persons who took the time and effort to contribute their views. 
Ministers also reiterated their instruction to the Committee to 
continue to forward to the FTAA entities the contributions submitted by 
civil society that refer to their respective issue areas, along with 
those related to the FTAA process in general.

Public Release of FTAA Draft Texts

    At the Quito Ministerial meeting, Western Hemisphere trade 
Ministers decided to make public the second FTAA draft consolidated 
texts. The Ministers' prior decision to release the first version of 
the draft consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement was endorsed by the 
hemisphere's leaders at the Quebec Summit of the Americas on April 20-
22, 2001.
    The second draft consolidated texts were made available on November 
1, 2002 on the USTR Web site and on the official FTAA Web site in all 
four languages. The texts were produced by the nine FTAA Negotiating 
Groups (market access; agriculture; services; intellectual property 
rights; investment; government procurement; competition policy; dispute 
settlement; and subsidies, antidumping and countervailing duties) and 
by the FTAA Technical Committee on Institutional Issues. The second 
draft consolidated texts contain many brackets, indicating that the 
text enclosed by such brackets has not been agreed to by all FTAA 
governments.

2. Invitation for Public Comments

    On December 10, 2002, the FTAA Civil Society Committee issued an 
Open and Ongoing Invitation to the public in the Western Hemisphere for 
written comments on the FTAA process. The Open and Ongoing Invitation 
is an important part of U.S. efforts to ensure that the views of the 
public receive consideration in the FTAA negotiating process and to 
encourage the public's participation.
    Public comment in response to the Open and Ongoing Invitation is 
welcome by the FTAA Civil Society Committee on a continuing bases. 
Comments received by the Committee through May 1, 2003 will form the 
basis for the Committee's next report to the FTAA trade Ministers.

3. Requirements for Submission

    In order to be considered, each submission must:
    --Identify the submitter(s), specifying name(s) and contact 
information;
    --Make reference to matters relating to the FTAA process and/or the 
second draft FTAA Agreement;
    --Be in written form, in at least one of the official FTAA 
languages (Spanish, English, French, Portugese);
    --Be accompanied by the cover sheet which follows (and also is 
available on the USTR and FTAA Web sites), with an indication of the 
FTAA entity or entities to which contribution pertains;
    --If greater than five pages, include an executive summary, no 
longer than two pages, which summarizes and identifies the issues 
considered in the document. (The FTAA Secretariat will translate all 
executive summarizes and contributions if less than five pages.)
    --Be sent directly to the Chair of the Committee of Government 
Representatives on the Participation of Civil Society at one of the 
above addresses.
    Contributions in response to the Committee's Open and Ongoing 
Invitation can be submitted by e-mail, fax, courier, or postal mail and 
must be accompanied by the submission cover sheet (reproduced below). 
In the interest of facilitating translation into the working languages 
of the FTAA (English and Spanish) and distribution among the countries 
of the hemisphere, it is highly recommended that contributions be 
submitted via e-mail or otherwise in electronic format (i.e., on 
computer diskette), to one of the addresses above. Contributions 
submitted by other means will be given equal consideration and every 
effort will be made to process the transmission of these documents 
expeditiously.
    In a separate notice being published today, the interagency Trade 
Policy Staff Committee (TPSC) is inviting comments on the second draft 
consolidated texts of the FTAA Agreement. Members of the public may 
choose to submit comments to the FTAA Civil Society Committee as 
specified above, the TPSC, or both.

Christina Sevilla,
Director, Intergovernmental Affairs and Public Liaison.

FTAA--Committee of Government Representatives on the Participation of 
Civil Society (SOC); Cover Sheet for Open Invitation Contributions

Name(s)----------------------------------------------------------------
Organization(s)--------------------------------------------------------
Address----------------------------------------------------------------
Telephone--------------------------------------------------------------
E-mail-----------------------------------------------------------------
Country----------------------------------------------------------------
Fax--------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Pages--------------------------------------------------------
Language---------------------------------------------------------------
Contribution covers the following country(ies)
or region(s):----------------------------------------------------------

FTAA Entities

    (Please check the FTAA Entity(ies) addressed in the 
contribution).

Negotiating Group on Agriculture
Negotiating Group on Competition Policy
Negotiating Group on Dispute Settlement
Negotiating Group on Government Procurement
Negotiating Group on Intellectual Property Rights
Negotiating Group on Investment
Negotiating Group on Market Access
Negotiating Group on Services
Negotiating Group on Subsidies, Antidumping and Countervailing 
Rights
Committee of Government Representatives on the Participating of 
Civil Society
Joint Government-Private Sector Committee of Experts on Electronic 
Commerce
Consultative Group on Smaller Economies
Technical Committee on Institutional Issues (general and 
institutional aspects of the FTAA Agreement)
FTAA Process (check if the contribution is of relevance of all the 
entities)

    Executive Summary: (2 pages maximum) must accompany any 
contribution with more than five pages. (Executive summaries of 
contributions of more than five pages as well as contributions 
totaling less than five pages are to be forwarded to FTAA 
Negotiating Groups and other Entities according to the information 
provided above.)

[FR Doc. 02-32767 Filed 12-26-02; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 3190-01-P